If you have ever wondered what a bee or a beetle has inside its head, what its brain is like, what its muscles are like, or whether it has a complex intestine, UGR Emeritus Professor Javier Alba-Tercedor has a (visual) answer to that question. Thanks to microtomography techniques, the researcher from the UGR’s Department of Zoology continues to surprise us with videos that allow us to travel inside small animals to discover their complexity and beauty.
At the core of Prof. Alba-Tercedor’s work is computed axial tomography (CAT), a diagnostic technology widely used in the clinical field. It provides radiographic images of the inside of the body that can be transformed into cross-sections or 3D images. Using this technique, albeit with other objectives in mind, Alba-Tercedor has become one of the world’s leading specialists in the use of micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) in the field of zoology. While clinical tomographic images have a resolution in the order of millimetres, micro-tomograms have much higher resolutions, below a micron. This higher resolution facilitates the detailed study of the structures of very small organisms.
The UGR professor’s latest work is on display at the «Parque de las Ciencias» Science Museum in Granada, which at the beginning of July launched an exhibition on the invisible world with sections dedicated to microscopy and microtomography. These techniques make it possible to observe, in detail, features that are beyond the limits of the naked eye. Prof. Alba-Tercedor has been working in the field of microtomography at the UGR’s Department of Zoology for more than a decade. This technique has made it possible to better understand the internal and external structure of small animals, uncovering aspects of their functional anatomy and behaviour. Making 3D atlases and videos, he generates comprehensive reconstructions thanks to the use of microtomographic techniques. The high quality of the resulting images and videos has earned him international awards and recognition.
Tomographs do not use the visible light of the electromagnetic spectrum as optical devices do, but instead use X-rays to produce radiographic images. The tomograms are processed using reconstruction software to produce slice images, which are then cleaned of artefacts and visualised using rendering software to convert them into 3D images. These images can then be rotated in order to observe them from different perspectives, to make new slices, or to travel “inside” them. In short, they make it possible to see and study not only the external features of these animals, but also their interiors, without the need to dissect them and thus alter the position of their structures and organs.
In addition to his YouTube channel videos, the emeritus professor has also made special videos showing the anatomy of a bee and a beetle, as part of the exhibition at the «Parque de las Ciencias» Science Museum. These videos take us on a journey inside these insects to discover the complexity of these organisms, allowing us to identify their structures and organs. The quality and beauty of the images demonstrate that, as Professor Alba-Tercedor explains, ‘microtomography is a technique at the crossroads of scientific research, art and education’.
Videos (in English):
Professor Alba-Tercedor’s YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/albatercedor